The opposition asked the government to report on military and trade negotiations with China

The deputy for the Civic Coalition, Mariana Zuvic, presented together with her block colleagues a request for reports to the Executive Branch on "the commercial relationship in defense matters with the People's Republic of China on issues with an impact on national sovereignty "

Through its claim, the Civic Coalition once again put on the table for debate areas in which the Government is not clearly issued despite the strong pressures it faces from its two high strategic partners in conflict: the United States and China.

With the first, the alliance was strengthened in the last year with the arrival of Sergio Massa to the Ministry of Economy and Argentina's growing dependence on Washington in negotiations with financial organizations, especially with the IMF.

China is one of the main investors and the second trading partner after Brazil, with oscillations in the balance that at times raised it to the first place and fell to the neighbor. There are also a series of commitments adopted with Beijing having adhered more than a year ago to the so-called Silk Road, created by Xi Jinping and which establishes investments in infrastructure and sensitive areas.

Zuvic's request comes after a chain of situations that rekindled pressure on Argentina amid its strong economic and financial needs and that at the time were anticipated by Clarín. For example, Washington asked not to buy the Chinese warplanes that were about to be acquired, some JF17 Thunder.

But both the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Martin Paleo, and the head of the Armed Forces, Xavier Isaac, asked the Americans to unblock a British military embargo on Argentina so that they could then acquire some F16 cza from Denmark that are of American origin.

Days ago, U.S. Ambassador Marc Stanley and his Argentine counterpart in Washington, Jorge Argüello, made a presentation at the Inter American Dialogue.

And there the American deeply exposed the message of his government that is that "there is nothing wrong with trading with China", but they want "a level playing field".

In that coming, he warned against the presence of military, logistics (such as the Waterway), nuclear, energy, labor, technological sectors, specifically in the 5G concessions. All issues that were exposed in the visit made by Alberto Fernandez to Joe Biden, and in the visits made to Argentina by the number two of the State Department, Wendy Sherman; a group of Democratic and Republican legislators, and the head of the Southern Command, Laura Richardson, fervent carrier of the anti-China message in strategic areas that rival her country in Latin America.

Ambassadors Marc Stanley and Jorge Argüello with AmCham President Facundo Minujin, Photo Federico Lopez Claro - Clarín

In July there will be another very special visit and it has to do with the Sino-American rivalry in the space field. Stanley announced on Wednesday that the administrator of the mythical NASA, the American space agency, Bill Nelson, will come to the country.

"Argentina is the first country in the region with a space presence and the eleventh country in the world with the largest number of satellites in space," Argüello told this newspaper at the AmCham conference on Wednesday, where he also reminded the public of the privileged investor place that China had for Argentina.

It is also worth remembering in the context of NASA's visit to Argentina, the annoyance that at the time the different US administrations raised to the different Argentine governments for the lunar exploration base granted by Cristina Kirchner to China in 2009, with practically absolute sovereignty in a land in Neuquén.

What did Zuvic raise in his request for reports? He presented a series of answers to questions that Defense Minister Jorge Taiana agrees to answer.

1. Report if there are negotiations and the status of progress of these for the acquisition of a series of JF-17 Thunder fighter jets from China.

2. Report whether the motivations for the acquisition of the aforementioned aircraft are supported by technical and operational reports made by specialists of the Argentine Air Force. If so, report the benefits of the weapons system in question to potential competitors and the media of neighboring South American countries.

3. Report whether the interoperability of these media with similar media in South American countries has been evaluated.

4. Report on the technical failures that would have been detected in the series of JF17 aircraft purchased from China by Myanmar, as well as the lack of spare parts. Report if they have been considered when continuing with the talks and what are the measures to be adopted so that the same does not happen.

5. Report whether the technical problems that would have been detected in the FJ.17 aircraft and that are publicly known, are likely to unnecessarily put the lives of Argentine pilots at risk.

6. Report the results of evaluations of the means referred to in attention to the logistics necessary for their maintenance. Report whether it is true that more than 50% of the aircraft's components are produced in Pakistan.

7. Report the type of armament included in the proposal Is it NATO weaponry? Is it possible to develop it in the country? Are there components that affect the use of aircraft from Western countries? If so, how will the continuity of aircraft operations affect the embargo to which the United Kingdom has been subjecting the country for more than 40 years?

8. In relation to the previous question, inform if any of the components of the FJ-17 aircraft are of British origin or of its strategic partners such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand or the United States of America. If so, how will that ministry and the Air Force avoid, the pressure of the UK embargo to keep the units operational.

9. Report whether the proposal includes staff training and whether it will be carried out in the country with trainers also acquired from China.

10. Report that other countries in the region have the same technology and if you have data on its performance.